Benjamin Franklin

An American Life

In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character.

Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.

In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin’s amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.

A great listen, but nothing new here

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, and the narrator was a pleasure to listen to, but I was disappointed that there was nothing here that I hadn't read before. Even so, I'll probably listen to it again in hopes of finding a tantalizing tidbit or fresh perspective that I missed the first time through.

Try another biography

I was looking for a book that would give a more in depth account of his life. This book scratched the surface on some parts but totally glossed over portions that may have been significant to his life. No mention at all about being a Freemason. I can't trust an author that leaves out basic information like that in a biography.

good summary

Wanted more detail, listened to this immediately after "Grant" and the comparison made this seem like a very basic summary.

Good - but not over whelming

I enjoyed the reading and the material. The book really focuses (as the title suggests) on Franklin as the American, and how he shaped that definition. The book is pro-Franklin but still manages to discuss his faults/shortcomings. Looking forward to reading about Adams and the other "Founding Fathers". Franklin is directly responsible for much of the American identity -7

Good listen. Very pro Ben Franklin

I found this book an insightful addition to my understanding of revolutionary America. The author is very much a Fraklin-phile.